Like Father Like Son
by Lord of Time10
Summary: When Erik and Peter both can't sleep, will the speedster finally gain the courage to tell the famed Magneto that he has a son? Just a quick, fluffy one-shot. The end is inspired by a certain HISHE cartoon. This takes place after XMA. If you were left in satisfied with Peter not revealing Erik the truth, please read! Comments and followers appreciated!


Erik woke up in a cold sweat. It was still dark outside, so he figured it must have been around 3:00 AM. He'd dreamt that Shaw had taken Charles and Raven. He had ran to them, tried to pull them away, but then he was a little boy again and Klaus Schmidt was standing over him with a knife. Erik looked around his room to make sure he was still at the mansion. A painting on the wall assured him of that.

Erik wiped his forehead, then slipped out of bed. He didn't feel like trying to sleep again any time soon. He pushed the door open and entered the hallway. The moon that shined through a nearby window casted eerie shadows over the doors of the other X-Men. Erik hovered down the rest of the corridor, trying to insure that no one would wake up.

As he reached the stairwell, Erik heard a door creak behind him. He looked and found that all the doors were still shut. A cool breeze passed over his face and his hair briefly flew about. He shook his head. Perhaps someone had just left a fan on a high setting. The metal-bender continued down the steps, then stalked into the kitchen.

Finally, Erik touched his feet to the ground. He walked over to a cupboard, reaching up to take a glass. He took it over to the sink and filled it with water. He relaxed as he took a sip and turned around, planning to take it to the living room. Instead, though, he jumped a little at the sudden appearance of a silver-haired boy.

After swallowing his drink, Erik asked, "What are you doing?"

"Just touring the place," Peter replied. A rush of wind ruffled Erik's hair once more and Peter suddenly had a soda. "Only took me about 27 and a half seconds to find the place where Xavier hides the sodas."

Erik nodded. He'd hoped for a little alone time, but settled for having Peter around. _I can't get rid of him, anyway._

"What are you doing?" Peter asked, setting his soda on the counter.

"I was just thirsty," Erik replied evenly. He thought about his dream suddenly and shook his head.

"Uh huh." Peter looked at his drink, then towards the brown-haired man standing not five feet from him. A murderer, a mutant, and a father. Peter longed to tell him that not all of his children were dead, but didn't find Erik very approachable. "When did you find out about your powers?" Peter didn't even remember deciding to ask Erik that, but when you can think as fast as him, sometimes you don't.

Erik shook his head, but looked towards the boy across him. As irritating as he was, Erik almost felt... _relaxed_ being around him. Not many of the others knew about his past, and he wasn't sure he wanted to tell this boy. Peter didn't seem like the kind of person who could keep a secret for very long.

Then again, Charles was always telling Erik he should connect with one of the students. Scott seemed too orderly to do so, and Jean was very guarded. Kurt was nice, but seemed a little afraid of Erik, and Storm seemed to try to rival him. Erik sighed. Perhaps telling _someone_ would help him to sleep in some way.

"I bent a gate when my parents were taken from me."

"Taken?"

Erik sighed. "In Auschwitz."

Peter still had a blank expression. Obviously, no bells were ringing in his head.

"I was a prisoner of war in a German concentration camp."

Peter shot Erik a look of disbelief, then looked away. His mother had kept her talking of Erik to a minimum, and had only ever mentioned that they were together for a short time. Every time he had tried to ask her a question, she had turned him away and said that it "didn't matter".

"I...I'm sorry," Peter said quietly. "Not that it changes anything."

Erik gave the boy a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Peter started, looking in Erik's direction, "people are always saying 'sorry'. Even if someone committed their whole life to saying it, the things that they're apologizing for still would have happened. Saying 'sorry' really only acknowledges that something bad happened and no one stopped it."

Erik and Peter locked eyes for a moment.

Then, Erik chuckled and looked down. "I wish you could convince Charles of that," he said dryly.

A long silence passed between them before Peter spoke again. "How long were you in there?"

Erik hesitated before answering. "Eighteen years."

Peter didn't say anything.

"I'm thankful to be here now, though," Erik added.

"Did you ever…" Even though he didn't really have a filter, Peter had a difficult time getting his next words out.

"Did I ever what?" Erik asked. Peter kept quiet. "You can ask about my time in World War II, but you can't tell me what you were about to say?"

"Alright, alright!" Peter relented. "Did you ever...love anyone?"

Memories of Nina suddenly came to Erik. He remembered shouting in the forest and killing the policemen. Inadvertently, a tear came to one of his eyes. He wiped it quickly, hopefully before Peter could see. Erik cleared his throat.

"Before…" Peter looked in the other direction. He'd clearly upset Erik, and probably wouldn't get anything more out of him.

Erik cleared his throat again. "Yes," he said quickly. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," Peter said lightly. "What was her name?"

"Magda," Erik replied.

Peter shivered a little at his mother's name. He'd known it was coming, and had thought about Erik saying it, but hearing him say out loud was something else entirely.

"She was beautiful," Erik said, looking off into space.

"Any…kids?"

Erik was suddenly jerked back to reality, and look Peter's face. Erik blushed a little. "Uh…uh…um...not that I'm... _aware_ of…"

Peter laughed. Seeing Erik flustered was funny. Erik groaned, trying to seem unamused.

"Why'd you leave?" Peter asked suddenly.

Erik looked at the speedster, contemplating his reasoning for asking all these questions. Most of the students and staff seemed at least a little afraid of Erik, with Raven and Charles as the exception. Seemingly, Peter didn't fear him either.

"Why are you asking about all of this?" Erik asked. "Aren't you afraid of me like the others?"

Peter scoffed. "Why be afraid?"

Erik paused. "I've killed people. I've tortured them. I've tried to kill the president and I've been in the Pentagon. I'm...I'm a monster."

Peter shook his head. "No. You're not a monster."

"What makes you say that?"

"You killed men far worse than you. You've seen Hell, and lived in it for eighteen years! You've been to dark places, but you have come back. Monsters are people who go to the dark places all on their own because they enjoy them, and then try to drag others in."

Erik let out a shaky breath. He wasn't sure whether Peter knew it or not, but those words rivaled those of Charles. The two looked at each other before Erik nodded.

"Thank you, Peter."

Peter nodded. A knot was in his stomach, as it had been since he'd known that Erik was his father. He wasn't sure how much longer he could wait, as he knew that Erik was going to leave the institute soon. His heart beat faster and faster, and he started to inhale and exhale quickly.

"I need to tell you something." There was no turning back now.

"What is it?" Erik asked.

"Wh-what if I told you…" Peter breathed in and out. "What if I told you that...that Magda Maximoff did have a child?"

"Maximoff?" Erik questioned. "I never said…" His voice trailed off. Erik tried to meet Peter's eyes, but the boy was looking down. "You...you know her?"

"Yes." Peter looked up at his father's face. "I'm your son."

Erik blinked a few times, processing the information. He stood then, walking towards Peter. "Don't say that. Don't-" His voice was getting shaky. "I…don't lie to me!"

Peter felt something burning around his eyes. Tears? No. He never cried. Even still, he felt something wet slide down his cheek. "I'm...I'm not lying to you, Erik!"

Erik put his head in his hands and sat down.

"My full name is Peter Django Maximoff!" Peter exclaimed, standing. "Please, you have to believe me!"

Erik looked up at the boy. Peter had Magda's deep brown eyes and Erik's spirit. Could this boy's statement be true? _No,_ Erik thought. _No, no, no._

"I'm going to bed," Erik said shakily.

Peter shook his head. He didn't wait this long for Erik to disregard his statement as false. Careful to take his neck, as he didn't want to damage it, Peter ran Erik upstairs to Charles's room. While Erik looked around, dealing with his current head rush, Peter flipped the lightswitch on.

Charles, who had been sound asleep, groaned. "Who is that?"

"Tell Erik I'm his son!" Peter shouted, tears running down his face.

"What?" Charles was still half asleep.

"Please!"

Charles suddenly sensed a strong desperation coming from someone in the room and opened his eyes. Peter and Erik were standing by the door, both seemingly to have been crying. Charles sat up, then looked into Erik's mind. Disbelief was settled there. Charles sighed.

"Erik, come here."

Erik looked toward his friend, then slowly knelt down next to the bed.

"Erik," Charles said, slowly, "I'm going to show you something from Peter's mind, alright?"

Erik was suddenly in a room filled with games, stolen TVs, and candy. He heard a sound-a sort of hitched breathing. He turned to see someone hunched over on a couch. Silver hair was tousled about. Peter.

A woman was standing over Peter, rubbing his back. She had long, wavy, brown hair, and as Erik approached her, he saw deep brown eyes.

"Magda?" Erik said out loud.

"Why did you never tell me?!" Peter shouted suddenly.

Magda shook her head. "Because it doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters! My dad is a wanted criminal!" Peter started crying again, and Erik felt tears on his own cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Peter. I just didn't see the point."

Peter pulled his head up and shot her a glare. "I could have told him! He might have changed!"

Magda sighed. "Erik Lehnsherr is a monster, Peter. Monsters don't change."

Erik was back in Charles's room. He suddenly couldn't breathe, and felt sick. Why hadn't he known? Tears were streaming out of his eyes and blurring his vision. He sat down and covered his face. Charles had his hand on Erik's shoulder the whole time.

Finally, Erik had finally calmed down. _It will be okay,_ he told himself. _I have a son._ A smile suddenly appeared on his face, and something he had rarely felt before seeped into his body. Excitement.

"I have a son," he said quietly.

"What?" Charles said.

"I HAVE A _SON!_ " Erik shouted. He ran over to Peter and lifted him up in a hug. "I have a son!"

Charles nodded, tears of joy in his eyes. "Yes, you do."

Erik ran down the hall, laughing. He burst into Raven's room. She groaned.

"Raven!"

" _What,_ Erik?" She asked, annoyed.

"Do _you_ have a son?"

"Ugh! _No,_ Erik!"

"I have a son!" Erik yelled again, bursting down the hall. After a few minutes, he ran back in Charles's room, to see Peter. "Thank you!"

"Thank _you,_ " Peter said in return. They exchanged a hug, while Charles beamed. He could get used to seeing Erik this happy all the time.


End file.
